Parasitism

Evolutionary equilibrium or contuining arms race?

Tight coevolution and diffuse coevolution

Comparison certain ecological characteristics that vary along a parasitepredator spectrum

Brood parasitism
Brood parasitism
the surreptitious addition of eggs to another females nest, whether of the same (intraspecific) or different (interspecific) species

There are several species of fish, insect and birds that are obligate interspecific brood parasites. These birds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and provide no parental care. Brood parasitism is an antagonistic evolutionary interaction between species

Atemeles sp.
Atemeles beetles are one of the many insects that are parasites in ant nests. The ants respond to the beetles as if to other ants, feeding them.

Atemeles sp.
(a) Offering food by a Formica workerant to a beetle-larva (Atemeles pubicollis) that parasitically lives in the ant nest. (b)Atemeles-larva with position of the cutaneus glands (k) producing baits for the host ants. After Hlldobler, from Hadorn and Wehner, 1977)

Atemeles sp.
Atemeles emigrate from the ant nest (Formica) where they have been raised during the summer, to the nests of another ant genus (Myrmica). After wintering there, they return to their original nest to breed in the springtime.

There is of course a reason for these moves: In the Formica nests, the immature stages disappear during the winter, and consequently social food flow is reduced. In contrast, the Myrmica colony maintains brood throughout the winter and high-grade food sources are available for the Atemeles.

Cuculus canorus
Common Cuckoos are unrivaled at laying eggs that resemble their hosts.
Eurasian cuckoo chicks maneuver under host eggs and chicks and dump them over the edge of the nest. Their backs have a neatly designed depression that just fits their potential competitor.

Host adaptations and mimicry

(1)Eggs matched for size (2) thicker egg shells (3) Egg color and pattern (Cuckoos and in the more host specific cowbirds), Nestling mimicry is absent in Host-intolerant spp (Cuckoos)

Young cuckoo mimicry

Cryptic egg coloration

Whereas the Brown-headed Cowbird, a recently encounter parasite species for many hosts, does not use cryptic egg coloration

Parasitized Wood Thrush nest

Parasitized Red-eyed Vireo nest

Effect of brood parasites

Brood parasites exploit the host parents' tendency to feed the largest young in a brood and the one that can reach highest most. By laying in the nests of smaller birds, cuckoos give their young an advantage in the competition for food. So do cowbirds whose eggs hatch after a shorter incubation period which allows them to hatch before the hosts young.

Contuining arms race Why tolerate parasites eggs?

Accepting a parasites egg is even more likely to be adaptive when the host is too small to remove the parasitic egg. Such hosts must either accept the egg or abandon the nest, which is an expensive option, especially if nest sites are scarce (e.g. as in cavity nesters). Some birds do recognize parasitic eggs and remove them from the nest. However, there is a risk that the host will discard one or more of its own eggs in error. Reed Warblers have been shown to make this mistake.

Evolutionary equilibrium
Hosts can be acceptors or rejecters actually a continuum, and a function of time of sympatry Egg removal e.g., catbird

Egg smashing e.g., orioles

Nest abandonment many passerines in NA Build a second nest on top the original Yellow warbler

Conclusion
As selection operates on both hosts and parasites the differing selection pressures have resulted in an arms race between hosts and parasites. Brood parasites have a significant effect on the reproductive success of the hosts. So, with many other species the arms-race between parasites and hosts is ongoing. Bener ga sih? Tolong dikoreksi ya

Thank you

Coevolutionary arms race it takes all the running you can do, just to keep in the same place. -The Red Queen (from Alice in Wonderland)